Researchers in Switzerland carry out Hong Kong endoscope operation from 9,300km away

Collaboration by ETH Zurich and CUHK is world’s first use of remotely controlled endoscopy on a living pig involving magnetic navigation system

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Researchers say they hope to start human trials for the new endoscope technology in two years. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 10:30am, 26 Aug 2024Updated: 10:44am, 26 Aug 2024

With the help of a game controller, researchers in Switzerland successfully used a magnetically steered endoscope on a living pig 9,300 kilometres (5,780 miles) away in Hong Kong to perform a biopsy on its stomach wall.

The procedure was the world’s first remotely controlled endoscopy on a living pig involving a magnetic navigation system and is part of a collaboration by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich).

Professor Bradley Nelson, the head of ETH Zurich’s Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, said the breakthrough meant telesurgeries in the future could be performed in remote regions such as developing countries where expertise was often in short supply.

“We’re able to, over thousands and thousands of kilometres, have very precise control of an endoscope, a new type of endoscope, and to do a scan of a patient’s stomach,” he added.

“Being able to treat more patients around the world – I think is the long-term vision.

“What we’re going to be able to see is we’re going to be able to deliver the quality of healthcare we have here in Hong Kong to the rest of the world.”